A blog about technical art, particularly Maya, Python, and Unity. With lots of obscurantist references

We've Moved

The blog has been retired - it's up for legacy reasons, but these days I'm blogging atblog.theodox.com. All of the content from this site has been replicated there, and that's where all of the new content will be posted. The new feed is here . I'm experimenting with crossposting from the live site, but if you want to keep up to date use blog.theodox.com or just theodox.com

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Player's Handbook

In keeping with the other career articles I've been reposting, here's a favorite old piece from Game Developer about career arcs in games. The illustrations are from the absolutely priceless Old School FRP Tumblr, which is a treasure trove of 1980's era RPG artwork that any gamer ought to check out. Know your history!

Congratulations! By
purchasing The Games Industry™
you’ve entered a universe of fantastic adventure! Players in The Games Industry™ collaborate to
create exciting new worlds, a form of collaborative story-telling that combines
the ancient arts of the bards with the most up-to-date developments in rules
complexity, arcane technicalities, and perverse randomness. Hopefully, your new purchase will keep you
occupied for many years – growing in power, battling monsters, and accumulating
treasure. You are guaranteed many a sleepless night in the company of your
fellow players. Welcome!

The first step for new players in The Games Industry™ is to create a character. In The Games
Industry,™ your character represents
you – he or she forms your alter ego.
Some players choose a character exactly like themselves, while others
prefer to play a very different role in The
Games Industry™ than they do in real
life. Whichever path you choose, be aware that picking a character is of the
utmost importance to your career in The
Games Industry™. Other players and
the many monsters you encounter in the game will react to you based on which
character you play -- or which one they
believe you are playing. Be sure to choose one that works well with your
instincts and goals. It’s critical to be aware of the strengths and limitations
of the different types of characters you encounter if you want to succeed in
the game.

New players create a character by choosing from one of
several archetypes. The choice of archetype, in turn helps drive certain career
paths. For example, a player who wants specialize in Game Design might choose
to begin his career as an Obsessive
Nintendo Fanboy – a choice which would make it difficult to, for example,
meet members of the opposite sex but which gives him great advantages in areas
like the pharmacological uses of mushrooms or reminiscing endlessly about Goldeneye.

To show you how the choice of archetype can affect your
career, we’ll take a look at some of the options available to the player who
wants to pursue a career in the arts. In The
Games Industry,™ artistic characters
have a variety of magical powers which can be used to amaze and enchant
players, monsters, and reviewers. Although an artist character can come from
any race, gender, or ethnic background , they tend to conform to one of the
following archetypical character design patterns:

The Perfectionist

Perfectionists
are a subclass of artists devoted, first and foremost, to the pursuit of their
craft. In the game you will often find them toiling away in the wee hours on
details which are all but invisible to the average passerby. Though each pixel or polygon seems to be pure
overkill, the cumulative effect is one of tremendous magical power. The
creations of a true Perfectionist compel the most cynical monsters – even
hardened Producers and inscrutable Marketroids -- to admiration and awe.

Bonuses

Dedication.
Perfectionists gain +5 for all rolls against artistic skill thanks to their
selfless devotion to craft. To gain this
bonuses, they practice obsessively –even when not being paid. For example,
you’ll find them thronging the halls of your local art school with greasy
sheaves of charcoal drawings tucked under their arms, or worshipfully studying
at the feet of the local Animation Mentor.
Perfectionists earn double XP for works in traditional media.

Mystic Charm. At higher levels, the true Perfectionist can
hypnotize members of other classes, such as Programmers, into stunned
admiration. This power works better when
the Perfectionist cultivates an otherworldly air and acts as if every decision
were an inspiration from on high instead of a deliberate choice.

When the Mystic
Charm is active the Perfectionist can operate with enormous creative
freedom. However if the power is negated (by a Programmer using the Graphics Budget power, for example) the
Perfectionist may find themselves is tricky spot. It’s also important to remember that other
artists are partially immune to this power, and they’ll be quick to complain if
it’s overused.

Weaknesses

Speed. The heavy armor of dedication which most
Perfectionists wear tends to reduce their agility. Without careful attention, the Perfectionist
can easily slide past the point of diminishing returns into an endless cycle of
revisions and tweaks that are invisible to others. Players nearing a milestone must roll a 12
or higher to break the cycle, or suffer 1D6 worth of delays.

Agility. The
single minded focus which gives the Perfectionist power can also lead to
tunnel-vision. Unless carefully played,
Perfectionists can endanger themselves by ignoring promising new spells ,
potions, and magic items later in the game.
Perfectionist players must cope with a -2 adjustment for learning new technologies and techniques. if you’re playing
as a Perfectionist, be sure to guard against this weakness with careful
attention to new techniques as well as old standbys.

Strategy:

Playing a Perfectionist is a difficult game. The dedication
which defines this class can get in the way of mundane tasks like scheduling
and budgeting, so Perfectionists often find it hard to learn management as
leads. Perfectionists can thrive when they are recognized for their talents
either as specialized craftspeople or creative visionaries. If parties where
the route to power runs through spreadsheets and meetings, Perfectionists are
often unhappy. Perfectionist players need to plan ahead with their colleagues
to build a secure and rewarding creative niche.

The Tinkerer

Where the Perfectionist character pursues the most exalted
forms of art, the Tinkerer archetype
enjoys mixing the nitty-gritty of technology with the solemnities of
aesthetics. What the Perfectionist hopes to achieve by sheer dedication and
relentless practice, the Tinkerer strives to accomplish by mastering every
trick and tool the game allows.
Tinkerers are a hybrid class, which shares some of the characteristics
of both the Artist and the Programmer. This can make for a powerful combination
in the hand of a skilled player – or an awkward compromise if played unwisely.

Bonuses

Inventiveness. Tinkerers
refuse to accept the status quo. No underused engine feature, no obscure corner
of an art package, is too esoteric for the Tinkerer to play with. Tinkerers
gain extensive bonuses for any situation where a recalcitrant game engine or
art tool needs to be manhandled into a job it wasn’t intended for – for
example, if your party is trying to simulate cloth using only skeletal
animations, you’ll need a Tinkerer on hand.

Buffing. Tinkerers
are extremely valuable to the other members of their party when they learn to
share the fruits of their curiosity.
They give nearby Artists a +1 to Productivity by sharing their technical
knowledge. They can also perform spells
ranging from simple charms like Bobo’s
Magical ScriptSpot to advanced magicks like home-brewed level editors.

Weaknesses

Hypnotism. Like
monkeys and some kinds of birds, Tinkerers are easily fascinated by shiny new
toys. When confronted with a new piece of technology, a Tinkerer must roll a
saving through against Focus or lose 1-20 hours of productivity to fiddling
around.

Split Loyalties. As
Tinkerers grow in level, it becomes harder for them to maintain their dual
identities. Above level 10 the benefits of specializing either on the
“artistic” or “technical” sides of the archetype become much clearer. If you’re
planning a Tinkerer character, you should think several steps ahead to be sure
you end up playing the role your really want – otherwise you may end up as a
“Jack of All Trades, Master of None.” Above level 10 Tinkerers must make a saving
roll against Charisma or risk turning into Programmers once and for all.

Strategy

Because the Tinkerer is a support class, it's important to make sure you don't get sucked in to doing only the work that other characters won't do. Getting stuck in a rut can lead to a career of virtual serfdom, grinding XP at monotonous and unrewarding tasks.

Effective tinkering requires a long term commitment to learning and experimentation: mastering new skills is what makes this class tick. Seek out every scroll, grimoire and tome you can to learn the spells which will help you escape this hideous fate.

The Footsoldier

The stalwart Footsoldier
can’t always generate the glamour of the Perfectionist or the wizardry of the
Tinkerer. Nevertheless this archetype is the backbone of almost every
party. No victories can be won
without their phenomenal powers of endurance and will to win. Don’t make the mistake of defining the
Footsoldiers in your group by negatives – they may not be aesthetic or technical
superstars, but it is their steadfast dedication to getting things done that
turns the tide of many a dire battle. Where the other archetypes define
themselves by their skills, Footsldiers regard discipline as the highest
virtue: give them a mission and they’ll see it through, on time and on spec.

Bonuses:

Endurance. Footsoldiers start with a bonus of +6 to Endurance. As hardened veterans, they excel at pacing
themselves – they know when to put in that midnight effort and when to save
themselves for tomorrows struggles.
Players, however, should beware of party leaders who use this bonus as
an excuse for skimping on support – a Footsoldier may be willing to put in
tedious hours of repetitive work to help the team, but that’s no excuse for not
providing the magic items that would make handle the gruntwork and let them
focus on the more artistic tasks they love.

Leadership. The experience that Footsoldiers accumulate on the front
lines gives them important leadership bonuses as they rise in level. Ruthless commitment to finishing the job means
that it’s often the Footsoldiers who are tapped for commanding roles later in
the game – other classes count on the Footsoldiers to keep Tinkerers and Perfectionists
focused on the enemy, and train new recruits in the hard ways of discipline. Footsoldiers gain +1 on rolls for promotions
for every two levels they earn.

Weaknesses

The Footsoldier archetype is well balanced. Lacking some of
the flashy powers sported by other characters, they lack many of their weaknesses
as well. Apart from a small -1 deduction
from Charisma, the Footsoldier is well defended on all sides.

Strategy

The biggest risk that Footsoldier players run is that of
being under-appreciated. Although they are the indispensible vanguard of any
artistic clan, they are sometimes slighted when it’s time to pass out the
booty. Magic items, like the +5 Killer Portfolio
or Schlieffer’s Amazing Rig tend to
wind up with the more attention-grabbing members of the party – the loyal
Footsoldiers who do so much of the actual work are sometimes forgotten. Footsoldier players need to be able to remind
their leaders exactly how much value they bring to the party and to establish
reputations as the indispensible, reliable pillars of the team if they want to
compete with their flashier brerthren.

The most recent edition of the Games Industry™ ruleset
introduces another important challenges for the Footsoldier. With the new Games Industry: Foreign Lands expansion pack, many teams have tried to
replace their Footsoldiers with non-player characters (NPCs) in order to keep
more of the treasure and XP for themselves.
If you’re playing a Footsoldier you’ll need to find roles to play that
are safe from NPCs. You can’t always
count on loyalty from your leaders in The
Games Industry™ so you need to look out for yourself. You’ll never be as cheap as an NPC, so your
best defense is to concentrate on making yourself more valuable to your
teammates instead.

This may seem like a lot of rules for a simple game, but
this complexity simply reflects the many play styles you’ll encounter in The Games Industry™ Once you’ve entered the rich fantasy life of The Games Industry™ you’ll find it hard
to go back to real life.

Particularly in the six months or so before shipping.

Disclaimer: New players should note this set does not include
everything you need to play. You’ll also need the following: A copy of
Photoshop, proof of citizenship or an H-1 B visa, the Employees Handbook (2d edition rules), Red Bull Energy Drink, a
free Nvidia T-shirt, and internet access.
The Games Industry™ features
an ever-expanding list of accessories
and expansion kits. See your local game
store for details.

About Me

I fell in love with computer animation in the Dark Ages, in more ways than one: I dropped out of a Ph.D. program in ancient history to start rendering 3D scenes on the Brown University mainframe back in the wee early 1990's. I went pro in 1993, doing animations for a variety of commercial and television projects.

My first game job was building mechs and environments for FASA's MechCommander in 1995.